The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has urged the government to declare malnutrition and child stunting as a priority agenda and to use judiciously a P10-billion loan to address these issues.
MAP in a statement said making malnutrition and child stunting a priority will ensure concrete measures will be taken, sufficient funds will be earmarked, and actions will be cascaded from the national all the way to the community level.
It said national support can enable future budgets to be allocated to initiatives and resources that can be made available to nutrition-sensitive programs that will holistically address key underlying determinants of proper nutrition.
These include food security, access to nutritious food at cheaper prices, access to health and social services, as well as nutrition-specific interventions that deal with the immediate causes of maternal and child malnutrition, such as micronutrient deficiency and stunting.
“Failure to arrest malnutrition and child stunting will eventually lead to lowered capabilities, resulting in poor comprehension and lower educational attainment
The MAP launched a campaign against malnutrition and child stunting in the country including the government’s Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP), a four-year program which aims to lower the incidence of malnutrition by helping over 200 towns through primary health care services and nutritional support that will be provided to children and pregnant mothers.
PMNP is funded by a P10-billion loan from the World Bank.
